Riveting mouse



A. D. BAKER RIVETING MOUSE Jam 2s,y 1936. y

Filed Dec. 2, 1933 QN w@ WN.

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.MIIIIE ndrewBa/ter Y dgmw@ www Patented Jan. 28, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE RIVETING MOUSE Application December 2, 1933, Serial No. 700,679

8 Claims.

My invention relates to devices for upsetting rivets on the inside of tubes, and is particularly valuable in aeronautical construction.

Such a device is termed a riveting mouse, and

previous devices for the same purpose, formed of two members urged apart by a spring, have proven defective in that the riveting blows, forcing the two members together, have been concentrated at one spot or in a localized area, causing the metal of which the members are formed to crystallize and break after short periods of use. It is a major object of my present invention, therefore, to devise a mouse for such uses, which will distribute the force of the riveting blows to several points of contact between the two relatively movable members of the mouse, thereby to lessen the force at any one point, and to distribute it over such a number of surfaces as will lessen the destructive effect and tendency to breakage, whereby the mouse will have a very much greater life in service.

It is also an object to devise a mouse which may be quickly adapted for work in tubes of varying sizes, and, further, to devise a mouse which is readily adjustablejor tension, and for small differences in the size of the tube.

It is a further object to simplify the construe-- tion of such a mouse, whereby it can be made at reduced cost.

My invention comprises the novel mouse as a whole, and the novel parts and manner of assemblage thereof into the complete combination, all as shown in the drawing accompanying this specification and in the claims at the end thereof.

In the accompanying drawing I have shown my invention embodied in a typical form of mouse.

Figure l is an elevation of the mouse, with the parts pressed together, a part being broken away and shown in section.

Figure 2 is a similar view of the mouse, shown within a tube, in condition for operation.

Figures 3, 4 and 5 are transverse sections on the respective lines 33 of Figure 1, and 4 4 and 5-5 of Figure 2.

The rivet-engaging member and the backing member of the mouse are formed as two complemental pieces l and 2, respectively, although it is immaterial which engages the rivet and which serves as the backing piece. These are elongated 50. members, and each of them is formed with serrations constituting several parallel surfaces, as I0 and 20, complementally inclined and in engagement with like surfaces of the other member. These inclined surfaces are spaced longitudinally of the members l and 2, so that each surface l0 bears at the same time and substantially equally on the corresponding inclined surface 20. The two members are normally urged apart by a spring 3, and to accomplish this the spring may be formed as a coil spring surrounding a thread- 5 ed extension 43 of a rod one end of the spring bearing against a nut 30 adjustably secured on the threaded extension 43, and the other end bearing against a washer 3|, which in turn bears against a shoulder H at the end of the member l. Each of these members is formed with a longitudinally extending recess, and the two members straddle the central portion of the rod. A shoulder 4l on the rod engages a shoulder I4 on the member l, whereby the spring, forcing these 15 two shoulders into engagement, limits the cutward movement of the member l, yet because this member is merely bifurcated it is a simple matter to retract the spring and withdraw the member I to substitute therefor a like member 20 which may be somewhat thicker or somewhat thinner than the original member l, to the end that the mouse may be used for different sizes of tubes. The member 2, on the other hand, is secured to the rod 4, which may be threaded at 42 to receive the member 2, which is complementally threaded.

It is clear that the two parts of the mouse may be pressed together sufciently to enter a tube such as 5 forming a structural member of an air- ,30 plane wing, fuselage or the like, and then may be moved along through the inside of the tube to a point where one of the two relatively movable members, for instance the member l engages beneath the shank of a rivet 6 which is to be 35 headed on the inside of the tube. The other member of the mouse, the backing member 2, at this time bears against the opposite wall of the tube 5, and when riveting blows are struck by a riveting hammer 'l the force is transmitted to the vmember l, which in turn changes the direction of the force and transmits it through each of the inclined surfaces l0 and 2D to the member 2, and to the spring 3, which through the rod 4 is backed by the member 2. The heading of the rivet is 45 accomplished by the resistance of the member l, due to inertia, to the resistance of the spring 3, and to the reaction of the spring 3, throwing the member l back (again by reaction and change of direction because of the inclined surfaces) against the end of the rivet shank. In this manner a member such as the gusset 5U may be secured to the tube 5.

For minor adjustments in the size of the mouse the member 2 may be threaded in or out on the 55' threads 42. For adjustments of the tension of the spring 3 vthe nut 30 may be threaded in or out on the extension 43, and may be held in any adjusted positionrby the cotter pin 32 or any like locking device.

The position of the mouse within the tube may be controlled, and it may be inserted and` Withdrawn by any suitable holding device,A such as the chuck illustrated at 8.,` on the end of a shank 8D which extends beyond the end of the tube. yThe ends of the members l and 2 are rounded off, as.

may be seen in Figures 1 and 2, to the end that they will ride over rivets or other obstructions inside the pipe, and may be readily insertedand withdrawn. A w.

By reason of the fact that the force applied to '1 the member l is transmitted to the member 2 through not one or two but severai surfaces distributed along the entire length of the relatively movable members l and 2, the force at any one point. is not great, and the tendency toicrystalliparallel inclined surfaces, one at each end therezationfand' breakage is: materially reduced. .While I have illustrated seven such surfaces, the term several Vindicates that there are at least more than two but not a great many, the number employed depending on rthe length of the members Vland 2. and' on the. force of the riveting blows.

Furthermore, Yif the force should be. suciently great as to move. the. members I and 2 into contact, the serratiQns, whereon are formed the inclined. surfaces land .20, come into. contact with` each otherfand act as stops, all substantially at the same time, and this force is likewise distributed, preventing damage. The reverse curves connecting the inclined surfaces are of appreciable radius, and leave. no wellI-dened line where crystallization may begin.VV

What I claim as my invention isi l. A- riveting mouse comprising a rod, a member-secured on one .end thereof and extending along'- the rod, and having two parallel inclined surfaces one at each end thereof and regularly spracedfincl-ined surfaces disposed intermediately between and parallel to said end surfaces, a complemental member straddling the rod and'having Yinclined surfacesY extend-ing Ytransversely and Yspaced 'lengthwise for complemental interengagement between the surfaces of Ythe two-members, said parallel surfaces, in eachV member, be-

`ing joined by a vreversely curved surface oi appreciable radius, spring means reacting between- Y the two' members to press the complemental inl clined surfaces together, when'at rest, to separate the reversely curved surfaces ofthe two members,

' andflargely absorb-ingthefshock of a blow communicated Vthrough a rivet toV the rivet-engaging member, -to Yeffect rebound of such member against the rivet. Y Y

3. A `riveting mouse comprising an elongated backing member and a similarly elongated rivetengaging member each having several transverse, longitudinally spaced, parallel inclined surfaces for complemental interengagement between such surfaces of the two members, and each member being channeled, in the edge adjoining the other member, to define a throughl aperture, a rod disposed in said aperture and secured to one member, and having a head, a spring interposed between the other member and said head,

to urge the complemental inclined surfaces-to- VIl. A riveting mouse comprising an elongated backing member and a similarly elongated rivetengaging member veach having several transverse, longitudinally spaced, parallel inclined surfaces for complemental interengagement between such surfaces ofthe two members, a-rod-ofa length to extendY lengthwise through and extend beyond said members', thelatter being :channeledtoi straddle the rod, .andthe Vrfodbeing secured to one member at one, Vend 'andl projecting beyond. the Y .members apart, when at rest, a greater or. lesser amount.

f6.. The combinationV of claimV wherein the rod is threadedly'secured to the backing memberfand is shouldered adjacent the opposite. end of the rivet-engaging member, thev latter having a Yfork straddling the rod and seating upon said shoulder to limit separationv of thetwo members under theurging of the spring, and wherebyupon adjustment of the rod lengthwise V.relative to the backing member the static separation'o the two members may be. varied.

'l'. The combination of claim .4, wherein theV head is threadedly secured upon the' projecting end of the rod, whereby upon adjustment (of suchV head lengthwise. of the rod to Vary thestatic force of thespring.A i 8. Ariveting mouse consisting-of arod, a. baciachanneledr to straddle oppositev sides of the. rod, the rod being threadedly secured tothe backing member, and formed with ashoulder adjacent an end of the rivet-engaging member, a complemental shoulder on the. rivet-engaging member,V a head threaded on the rod for adjustment therealong, a spring interposed between said head and the rivet-engaging memberV tending. tey hold the tvvo shoulders in engagement; the two members bers apart, their separation being limited by the engagement of said shoulders, and Vbeing adjustable by rotation of the threadedrodirelatively to` the backing member. f

. Y E i L ANDREW D. BAKER.

Ving member and a rivet-engaging. memberfeach 

